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April 26, 2025

J IS FOR JAPAN

A mascot with a green body, a green-and-yellow crown and a yellow beak holds a newspaper.

Ryogo Toyoda

T’s Culture Issue

The Darker Side of Japan’s Love of Cuteness

From Hello Kitty to Pikachu, the country changed what the world considers adorable. But do these characters represent joy — or rage?

By Ligaya Mishan, Hiroshi Yoshii, Kimiaki Yaegashi and Ryogo Toyoda

A man in a suit, carrying a satchel, walks down the street. Next to him, a large model resembling Godzilla, with a dark gray body and yellow horns.

Tess Ayano

T’s Culture Issue

Monsters Plague Japan. But What Do They Mean?

How ancient history and modern calamities have cultivated a national obsession with menacing creatures.

By Aatish Taseer and Tess Ayano

From left: K. Kurigami; Masaya Tanaka

T’s Culture Issue

How Avant-Garde Japanese Designers Forever Changed the Way We Dress

From Rei Kawakubo to Yohji Yamamoto, the country’s fashion pioneers continue to revolutionize global style.

By Nick Haramis and Masaya Tanaka

Rinko Kawauchi

T’s Culture Issue

Why Japan Counts 72 Microseasons

Periods including “fish emerge from the ice” in mid-February and “rainbows hide” in late November offer a framework for eating, gathering and celebrating.

By Ligaya Mishan and Rinko Kawauchi

A stone gate, covered in moss and surrounded by trees.

Moe Suzuki

T’s Culture Issue

Nothing Lasts. How Do We Face It?

Transience has come to inform so much of Japan’s culture — even its sense of self.

By Aatish Taseer and Moe Suzuki

An array of citrus fruit, some peeled, some whole and some sliced, on a navy blue background.

Photograph by Mari Maeda and Yuji Oboshi. Set design by Nazuna Akao

T’s Culture Issue

The Japanese Citrus You’re About to See Everywhere

Yuzu has already gone mainstream. Which fruits will make a splash on menus next?

By Yukari Sakamoto

Illustration by Ilya Milstein. Animation by Jonathan Eden

T’s Culture Issue

10 Japanese Innovations That Shape Our Daily Lives

The country’s objects and ideas, including matcha and emojis, that have had an outsize influence on the world.

By Kate Guadagnino and Ilya Milstein

A woman sits in a croweded room surrounded by memorabilia, including curtains, manga, posters and cushions.

Shiori Kawamoto, “Daraku Room, Sakurako Room,” 2014

T’s Culture Issue

How Japanese Superfans Redefined What It Means to Be Obsessed

Otaku, people for whom hero worship is a way of life, have changed everyone’s relationship to the culture.

By Nick Haramis

A painting of a large slice of bread on a plate with a square pat of butter on the top.

Courtesy of Ulala Imai, Nonaka-Hill, Karma and Xavier Hufkens

T’s Culture Issue

Dairy Changed Japan. Then Japan Changed Dairy.

How the 20th-century arrival of milk products shook up the country’s traditional ideas about creaminess.

By Sonoko Sakai

An illustration of a counter at a sushi bar, with a conveyor belt with plates of sushi.

Ilya Milstein

T’s Culture Issue

Many Cultures Borrow. Japan Transforms.

Throughout its history, the country has taken imports and changed them into something else entirely.

By Pico Iyer and Ilya Milstein

A painting of a single-story convenience store at night, with cars and motorbikes outside.

T’s Culture Issue

How Japan Remade American Culture

Convenience stores, ice and whisky first came as U.S. imports. Then, they were reinvented.

By Anna Sherman and Keita Morimoto

Three musicians stand on stage holding electric guitars.

Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

T’s Culture Issue

What Would Pop Music Be Without 808 Drums?

How Japanese ingenuity transformed Western music from within.

By Jon Pareles

A group of five people are gathered in front of a wooden building.

Takahiro Kaneyama

T’s Culture Issue

Why Some of Japan’s Most Exciting Cultural Figures Are of Korean Descent

The artists, musicians and writers pushing past decades of historical erasure.

By Hannah Beech

Illustration by Ilya Milstein. Animation by Jonathan Eden

T’s Culture Issue

What Will Be the Next Big Thing From Japan?

We asked some of our favorite chefs, designers and artists to predict what will become our new obsession.

By Kate Guadagnino and Ilya Milstein

T’s Culture Issue

Why Japan Is Best Experienced By Foot

In Japan, the simple act of walking has long been connected to working toward enlightenment.

By Pico Iyer

A person wearing white boots with orange soles and a jacket leans into a large vat with their legs in the air.

Jérémie Souteyrat/Laif/Redux

T’s Culture Issue

The Funky, Fermented Roots of Japanese Cuisine

Since long before the rest of the world caught on to their appeal, tangy, pickled ingredients have been a staple in many of the country’s most popular dishes.

By Ligaya Mishan

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